Believers or Achievers

Ezekiel 37: 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” NIV

God by his spirit has to show us at times what we look like without him.

A Valley full of dry bones. bones that were very dry

I recently went to a Church/Ossuary in Sedlec near Kutna Hora that was full of very dry bones. Ca. 40,000 people were there, a lot of bones.

They were decorating the walls, chandeliers, crosses, symbols,…
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“Son of man, can these bones live? (Believers or Achievers)

There are situations in our lives that are just as impossible to fix ourselves as this valley of dry bones. (Achievers)

If we can just do more of this, or try that.

What would a person have to do to bring back to life a valley full of dry bones?

Do this?.... what? Soak them in water, find the pieces that go together, try them together with wire, IMPOSSIBLE!
It is much easier to do something than to trust in the Lord.

Can this broken life be made right, can this sinner be saved? Can this hopeless situation be turned around?

Lord, you alone know (Believer) (The lord says “I will”)

I will attach

I will bring it all together. I made you, I know my plans and purposes, I will finish what I have begun)
Have you ever tried to build a model together, but were too impatient to follow the plans? What are these pieces? Hmmm!

Isaiah 46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. NIV

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. NIV

I will put breath in you

What I plan and do I will make alive.

If you try to make something live that you create, many times it becomes a monster, and Ishmael, at best it simply doesn’t work.

Then you will know that I am the Lord

Letting him, plan and fulfill will reveal his hand in our lives. * Maybe the reason we have seen so little of his working in our lives is because we are too busy trying to achieve something for God ourselves?

They say (The dried up ones), ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’

We are dried up Our hope is gone*
We are cut off

‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back…

I am going to

open your graves
bring you up from them
I will bring you back…

What a hopeless feeling to stand before a grave, a pile of bones.

Today there is resurrection power and for eternity too. Today trust him with your entire life, not only the parts that you think you cannot handle.

EXTRA

The New Living Translation

Romans 4:13 It is clear, then, that God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not based on obedience to God’s law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith. 14 So if you claim that God’s promise is for those who obey God’s law and think they are “good enough” in God’s sight, then you are saying that faith is useless. And in that case, the promise is also meaningless. 15 But the law brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

16 So that’s why faith is the key! God’s promise is given to us as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it, whether or not we follow Jewish customs, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who brings into existence what didn’t exist before. 18 When God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, Abraham believed him. God had also said, “Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars,” even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible! 19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though he knew that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children. 20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God declared him to be righteous. 23 Now this wonderful truth—that God declared him to be righteous—wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. 24 It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God. NLT